Staying Away
by cbssoapsgirl
Summary: Fitz and Olivia have their ups and downs, a lot of down. How can you stay together with so many downs? Does that mean you aren't supposed to stay together?
1. The Things You've Done

Fitz sat at his desk in the Oval going over the latest reports of the financial plan for the country. He read through most of them already and was waiting now for Cyrus to pop in at any minute. Since the day just started, he should be there any time. Even going through the reports and thinking about the day ahead, his mind still wandered to Olivia. His Livie was always in him mind. She was going to come in later so they could strategize for the upcoming election. Fitz reminded himself to be extra careful today. To apologize for everything he said and did the night before. He wanted to take the weekend away with her, take her to Vermont and enjoy the quiet they would have. But with the way he treated her, there was no way that she would consider even being in the same room alone with him. Fitz mentally fought with himself when he woke up to have his detail go over to Liv's and bring her over to the White House just to ensure that she was still in D.C. He needed to make sure that she wasn't running even after all the things that had happened.

"Morning Mr. President," Cyrus greeted opening the door to the Oval, "finished reading?"

"Nearly. I'd like you to set up a meeting with the treasurer and the defense for tomorrow. There has to be somewhere in the world that isn't a danger to us. Can you also make sure that Liv gets here please? We have some things to go over for the campaign."

"She's headed in now; I just talked to her. Liv asked that I sit in on the meeting too. She has a few ideas that she wanted to go over with both of us."

Fitz nodded and set Cyrus on his way. Of course she would want Cyrus in on the meeting. He knew she wasn't going to let him take an inch because he'd take a mile.

After twenty minutes Cyrus came into the Oval with Liv behind him. Fitz used all the resistance he had in him to not run over to her, kiss her, and tell her he made a mistake the way he treated her the night before. Maybe if he asked Cyrus to leave?

"Cy, before we get started, I'd like a few minutes with Olivia alone, would you mind leaving us?" Fitz asked from his desk.

"No problem Sir, I'll just…"

"Actually, I'm on a tight schedule today. I only have a few minutes to spare here," Olivia pushed. "Cyrus, here's the notes. See what you both like and let me know, I need to head out."

"Olivia," Fitz started but she cut him off.

"Have a nice day, Mr. President."

Liv left the Oval, closing the door behind her and headed to her car. She wasn't actually busy, in fact she had nothing planned but getting her things together to go.

"What'd you do this time?" Cyrus asked staring at the door Olivia just walked out of.

"The word 'everything' should cover it. Last night was a disaster. She hates me already."

"Well, you did call her the help. And you've called her a mistress. Not to mention you won't do a thing about the way Mellie treats her. You've pitched a bitch when she wants to move on, ignored the things she's told you to do to ensure your presidency is successful. Let's not forget about the whole closet scene. Your trip to Vermont. She's getting tired. I don't blame her. There's mixed signals going around in that relationship and it's confusing, even from the outside. Apologize for whatever you did last night and then pray that she doesn't leave. Beg her to stay if you have to. I can tell you one thing for sure: without her, you'll lose."

Fitz knew he needed Liv. If he wanted to stay President, he would have to get her back. "Well, aren't you just filled with support for this relationship today? What changed your mind?"

"My husband is dead. I have a daughter to raise. I can't do this on my own. I will need her godparents to help me. I also need your head in the game."

Fitz pulled out the cell phone he had that he used to call her all the time. He put her phone number in and called, immediately getting the voicemail.

"Livie, come back to the White House and we can talk or just call me back and I'll come to you. We really need to discuss this before our situation gets worse. Let's talk and get this figured out so we can move on to our life please. Vermont can't happen if we aren't in this together." He hung up and kept the glance from Cyrus away from his eyes. "We have a plan including Vermont. We want to live up there with our kids and be happy making jam. Is that really so much to ask for?"

"Not really, but as a President, your life will never be that simple."


	2. You Just Have To Deal With It

"So you're going to run away? How does that solve anything?" Abby yelled at Olivia in her office at OPA. "You've always told us that as gladiators, you don't get to run away. You have to fight! Why are you running?"

Olivia set down the papers she pulled from her desk into the box she had set in her chair. "I'm not running. I'm protecting. I have to protect myself. And like I told you before, you are more than welcome to come with me. I can't stay in this city anymore. I've taken everything that I can take."

Abby stood in front of her desk with her arms crossed not liking any of this situation. "And what are you going to do? People know you. You have been a celebrity in this city for several years. People will know that you left. HE is going to know that you left. I work for him, he'll ask me where you went and I can't lie to him."

"I've taught you very well how to lie. Everyone lies, including him. No one needs to know that I am gone. And the people who do need to know have already been informed. Quinn and Huck are coming with me. Stephen has his own life and has cut all communication with me. You are the last one. Either you're coming or not. And if you aren't, I can't tell you where I'm going. I trust you Abby, with everything in me, I do. But I can't risk it. I am done with him. I am done with this city. And I am more than done with this job. There are plenty of people who can do this job."

"Not as good as you. People come to you because you are the best, because you can deliver. What the hell does Leo have on you? He can't do his damn job is someone held his hand the whole way."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Stay here in D.C. Tell the President that you're pissed off and hurt. Make him beg on his knees for forgiveness and stay. Make him choose between you and his wife. Be the first lady, be better than her and enjoy the life you want with him. Don't run from the problem."

Olivia moved the box and sat down in her chair. "I am the problem, Abby. And I'm taking the problem with me. I've come up with a solution and he's going to have to live with it."

After an hour of arguing with Olivia, Abby decided that she would stay in D.C. She was enjoying the life she was living with David and her job at the White House. Abby was not happy about Olivia leaving but finally understood what she needed to do.

"You can't tell him I've left yet. Fitz will figure out that I'm gone within a day and know then. I'm not going to tell you where we're going but I will let you know somehow that we're fine. Deal?"

"Fine; but I still don't like it."

"You don't have to Abby; you just have to deal with it."

Olivia said goodbye to her friend and took the box out to her car with Quinn. Huck followed behind her in his car to her apartment. They packed their things and went on their way not telling a soul where they were heading.

"Cyrus, we have a problem."

"Abby? What can be a problem at 11 at night?"

"I couldn't stop her. I've given her a six hour head start; do you think you can find them?"

Cyrus sat up in bed; he was nearly asleep when Abby called him. "I'm going to hope that you are not talking about Olivia. Because if you are, the President is going to have your head on a silver platter."

"Can you still find her?"

"Did she go alone?"

"No, she has Quinn and Huck."

"Then there is no possible way that we can find them. If she took Huck with her, she's fallen off the planet."

Abby silently cursed herself for not calling Cyrus hours before. She knew she should have called him when Liv said she was leaving. Now, there was probably no chance that she would ever hear from Olivia again.

"What do I do?"

"Sleep. There's nothing you can do. We hold on to this for as long as possible without letting Fitz know that she's gone. We have to continue without her. She's left, there's nothing to do."


	3. Ten Days Of Silence

Abby took a deep breath in and slowly let it out the next morning standing in front of the Oval Office door. As per her usual day, she would need to deliver Fitz's communications briefing to him personally. She was worrying herself all night about whether or not she'd be able to keep it a secret of Olivia's departure.

She slowly knocked on the door waiting for the approval to come in. When it did, she opened the door and went in.

"Your briefings, Sir."

"Thank you, Abby." Fitz held his hand out for her to place the file in. Abby turned to go out of the office but his voice stopped her. "How is she?"

Abby froze, keeping her back to him, knowing that if she looked at him, she would tell him everything. "She's fine. She's Olivia Pope."

"In other words, she's not showing any emotions and has buried herself in her work, right?"

"I'm not sure Mr. President; I'll look in to it for you."

Abby rushed out of the office down to hers getting herself arranged for the day when Cyrus came in.

"Under the radar, I had a couple people look into where she went last night. She had definitely left the city and has not been seen since 7 last night. All we know is Huck and Quinn are with her. Wherever she is, she's gone. And for future reference, you need to be a better liar. I saw everything you said to him," Cyrus told her.

"I'm not good at lying. And he's the President. It's very hard to lie to him. I'm not Olivia, God knows that, and there are times that I can channel her and use everything she has done but this is not one of those times."

"Then you can't be around him. Find an excuse to not sit in on meetings. Give him a reason to fire you or just quit. Because as soon as he finds out that she's gone, this country is going to hit rock bottom. We need to hold that off for as long as possible."

"I won't quit; gladiators don't quit and that's what I have to be right now."

Abby walked past Cyrus heading down to the briefing room awaiting the daily meeting. She would have to confront the press about several situations in a few hours and needed all the details that anyone had.

A week had gone by since Olivia had left. Fitz called each number he had for her multiple times a day dying for her to answer just so he knew she was alive. He asked Abby about her every morning and she gave the same response each time: she's fine.

"I just find it very odd that in a week, she hasn't answered any phone," Fitz told Abby and Cyrus one morning.

"As I've heard, OPA is handling that hookers for senators dilemma and it's taking up a lot of their time. Liv's probably busy yelling at senators who can't keep it in their pants," Cyrus informed him, lying each step.

"Still, she would have answered at least one of my phone calls. Maybe I'll go over to her apartment tonight. She can't refuse me in person."

"NO!" Abby yelled causing both of them to stare at her. "What I mean is that you have a night full of meetings tonight. There's no chance of you leaving this office until way after midnight. By then, Liv will be asleep. You know how grouchy she is when she gets woken up. She can be frightening."

Fitz nodded remembering one time that he did wake her up after a hard day of work. She nearly bit his head off through the phone. "I'll have a detail go over and check on her, just to be sure."

"Sir, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Abby added.

"Why am I getting the feeling that neither of you want me to see her? Is she that hurt that she won't see me?" Fitz demanded to know.

Before either of them could answer, Lauren opened the door. "Sir, the press is ready for you."

"Thank you, Lauren," Fitz said putting on his jacket.

Abby and Cyrus followed Fitz to the Press Room. They stood together in the corner of the room listening to his speech as the press took notes and recorded him.

"Any questions?" Fitz asked finishing. He picked the first one, "Dave?"

"West Angola isn't attacking us, but do you think they will?"

"It's possible, but doubtful. Linda?"

"Would you be sending troops to West Angola?"

"Only if needed. Ryan?"

"Crisis manager and your former communications director, Olivia Pope, hasn't been seen or heard from in ten days. Do you think it's possible that she is working on the Angola issue herself? Perhaps she can make things better over there?"

Fitz stood stunned losing track of Ryan's question. "I'm sorry, Ryan, I missed that, can you say that again?"

"Could Ms. Pope be working on the Angola…"

"No, the first part."

"No one has seen or heard from Ms. Pope in ten days. Do you think…"

"That's all we have time for today, folks," Cyrus jumped in. Questions flew across the room wanting answers before they left. Cyrus was able to pull Fitz out of the room and closed the door behind him with Abby. "Sir, let's go to the Oval…"

"What the hell does he mean that no one has seen or heard from her in ten days? He's got to be joking right? Abby, you've talked to her," Fitz said staring at her. Abby looked away from his face unable to stand the look he was giving her. "You've said she was fine all week that she was working."

"I lied," she said looking at her shoes.

"My God, she taught you to lie like her, how to lie to me. Cyrus, you've spoke to her, right?"

Cyrus let out a loud sigh, "no, sir."

"Then where the hell is she! How is it possible that no one has seen this woman in ten days? She's a high profile crisis manager and a campaign fixer with clients all over the city and no one has seen her? I'm going to her apartment right now."

"You can't," Abby yelled as he walked away.

Fitz turned back to face her staring in her eyes. "I can and I am. Unless there is some reason for me not to go."

"She's not there," she told him. "She's gone."

"Olivia Pope is not gone, she's probably just home ignoring everyone in the world. She'll answer for me."

"Mr. President," Cyrus stepped in, "let's go to your office." Before Fitz could protest, Cyrus nudged him further down the hall to the Oval with Abby following behind him. "Olivia is not in the apartment, she's not in the city."

"Cyrus, I told you we should have told him," Abby whispered to him a bit too loud.

"The two of you have known that she was gone? For how long?"

"Ten days," Abby muttered. "She made me swear not to tell you. She said that she was going to tell me some way that she was ok. She told me I could go with her if I wanted."

"But you didn't, obviously. So where is she?"

Abby sat down on the couch as Fitz moved to sit on the table in front of her. "I don't know."

"Abby, don't you think it's important to know where she is? She's high profile. Someone could have hurt her and we'd never know. I can't help her if I don't have an idea of where she went," Fitz told her sweetly, trying to calm down and make her tell him the information he desperately wanted.

"I honestly don't know where she went. She said she could tell me if I went with her, I can't tell you because I don't know. She took Huck and Quinn with her. There's no way to find her with those two with Liv. Wherever she went, she's most likely not coming back."

Cyrus sent Abby out of the room knowing he was next to be yelled at. He's had ten days to prepare himself for this match and now he had to face it.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Fitz demanded.

"So you could do what? Chase after her? She went away for a reason, Fitz. Whatever her reason was, she did. I can't read her mind. It's possible that her leaving had absolutely nothing to do with you," Cyrus said, knowing that was far from the truth.

"She left and didn't say a word; this has everything to do with me. I need her to be found. I need you to pull her back here or just find her so I can talk to her. Use whatever sources necessary. Just find her, Cyrus."

"Yes, Mr. President."


	4. Seven Years Later

"Teddy, how was your first day of fourth grade buddy?" Fitz asked his youngest son when he got in the car. It'd been nearly seven years since Fitz last saw Olivia. He'd had people attempting to track her down but he had lost any hope of finding her a couple years before. Still, he had to look for her, try to find out where she was, if she was happy.

"It was awesome; my teacher is so cool and there's a new girl who's almost six and she's in my grade! We didn't get why she was in fourth grade but then Ms. Heath asked her to tell us why she was there and she told us all the numbers in that pi thing, and Ms. Heath said she did it right! Anddddd….. She's cute!" Teddy told his dad in a hurry.

Fitz smiled at his son and leaned back in the back seat. His details from when he was President were still with him. "She sounds pretty cool. Did you do anything else?"

Teddy told him about his day all the way back to the ranch in California. Fitz had decided that if he and Olivia couldn't spend their life together in Vermont, he didn't want the house. A couple years after the end of his presidency, Fitz sold the Vermont house and everything in it. He and Mellie shared custody of Teddy but he was mostly with Fitz, seeing that Mellie and Andrew had their own family and lives to live.

As the years passed by, Cyrus was closer to Fitz than ever. He helped Fitz through his pain of not knowing where the one woman he loved more than life was, through the divorce after the last term, and through several of his suicide attempts. Cyrus and Ella moved to California when Fitz did, after Fitz pressured Cyrus to retire and enjoy his life with Ella, to a house ten minutes away from the ranch. Fitz had been doing well working with foundations and keeping up with the latest politics. Every now and then he would get a call from the current President seeking advice on one situation or another. But even though he seemed content with his life, half his life was still missing. And it would be until Olivia returned to him.


	5. He Can't Know

"MOMMY! Fourth grade is the best! Ms. Heath didn't even know the first three numbers in pi!" Kyra yelled when she ran through the house with Quinn trailing behind her.

"That's great, Kyra, no running remember?" Olivia said picking her daughter up. "Anybody else in that grade your age?"

"Nope, I'm the only five year old there. Guess I'm smarter than them right?"

Olivia nodded putting her daughter on the counter in front of her giving her a cookie. "I'm sure you are. But let's not brag about it okay? Someday you might hurt their feelings."

"Gladiators don't get to have feelings right Aunt Quinn?"

Quinn sat down at the kitchen table and nodded, "whatever you say, Ky."

"Kyra, go practice the piano for a bit," Liv told her setting her on the floor. She went over and sat next to Quinn at the table. "Anything I should know about?"

"The teacher was nice, Kyra likes her. She is the smallest person in that room. Beside the point, everyone's background check passed. The credentials are amazing for all of her teachers. All went to the best colleges and know what they are doing. This private school is good. It's better than the last three."

"What about the kids in her class? They're all good?"

Quinn shook her head, "Kyra is anti-social. She wants nothing to do with anyone her age or in her class. At lunch, she took out her Shakespeare book and read Romeo again. I think the kids are pretty well safe around her."

"Good, I'd like her to have friends and to play with children but she isn't interested in any of that. Neither was I but I'd like her to have a somewhat normal life."

"She's Olivia Pope's daughter; her life will never be normal," Quinn told her, wanting to say more.

Olivia put in before Quinn could, "she isn't his daughter. She doesn't need him, she has you and me and Huck. Kyra has everything she could ever need or want between the three of us. For five years she hasn't ever asked for anything or needed for something. Kyra has everything."

"And that's what you tell yourself to sleep every night. Would it be so bad if he knew?"

Olivia stood up from her seat and poured herself more coffee. "It would be catastrophic. He does not need to know about her. She does not need him. I cannot and will not allow him to treat her the same way he treated me."

"Dirty little secrets…"

"I don't need a lecture Quinn. What I need is to get into the living room and listen to her practice. My main focus has to be on her one hundred percent. She is my life and the one thing I live for."

Olivia went to listen to her daughter play with Quinn joining them a few minutes later.

"That was perfect Ky," Quinn applauded. "I gotta go. I'll see you in the morning for school okay?"

Kyra left the piano stool and hugged her aunt goodbye wishing her goodnight.

For being almost six in two months, Kyra was beyond smart. She read at a college level, knew calculus equations by heart and how to solve them, and was, in her words, almost sure she had world peace handled. Kyra was never one to go outside her comfort zone with people other than her mother, Quinn, and Huck. Her whole life, they were the only ones she was around besides her teachers. But even when the teachers were there, at least one of her guardians was still with her. She'd thought about the fact that one TV shows, there were always two parents, a mom and a dad, raising their children together but after a while she concluded that her dad wanted nothing to do with her. It took a while, but Kyra accepted it. She was very happy with the three people in her life and she couldn't want more.

Every day that Olivia survived without Fitz was one that she was thankful even more for having Kyra. The way Fitz treated Olivia before she left surprised her and she had to ensure that no one would ever treat her daughter like that. The thoughts reoccurred to Olivia that perhaps, if she did not have Kyra, she would go back to Fitz. She would be happy with him and live the life that they wanted. But the last time the spoke, he basically called her the help. And this time, she would not accept that. Mellie had always treated her like a servant ever since she knew about their relationship. The feeling of Sally and Thomas came to her every time she thought about Fitz now. If she had to stay hidden like Sally did, then Thomas did not need to know his children.

Olivia always felt guilty for keeping Kyra from him; on occasion she would have a panic attack screaming that she was doing him wrong. But she had to remember that it was what was best for her and Kyra. They were both safer if Fitz didn't find them. Kyra was safe from the press, Mellie, and Fitz if they didn't know she existed. It tore Olivia's heart to have to keep it like that but she would have to suffer for the sake of her child.


	6. Flashback

"How'd Abby take it?" Quinn asked stepping in the car.

"Not well, but there's not much I can do," Olivia answered. She started the car and headed out of the parking garage making sure Huck was right behind her. Liv had sent Huck and Quinn to their apartments to get their things they needed to leave the city. "Anything else? I can feel you judging me."

Quinn let out a deep sigh before responding, "I don't question you, ever. I did at first when I first started but I understand now that we don't ask questions. But I'm uprooting my life, even the one you gave me, for you. And I'd do it every time you asked but I need to know, at least this time. Why are we leaving? What's happened that is so bad that you need to leave D.C.?"

"Harrison taught you well. As did Huck from the sound of it. You are more than welcome to stay here with Abby but you can't know where I am if you do. That's the rule. I know where I'm going. So before I leave the city, are you coming or not? I'm not turning around."

"I'm in all the way, Olivia. Over a cliff to my death if needed. Can't you just tell me why we're leaving?"

Olivia shook her head no as she merged onto the highway. "Later, when we're in a safer place and with Huck, I will tell both of you. Until then, I won't say a word about this."

Quinn crossed her arms and leaned back in the seat. She knew Olivia wouldn't spill anything she did want others to know. If Olivia said there was a reason for her to leave, than there was.

Huck followed them out of D.C. all the way to Tennessee before Olivia stopped for the night. She found a motel just off the highway that they could stay at until they continued in the morning. She paid cash for the room for all three of them and they went in getting ready for bed, exhausted.

"Can you tell us now why we left?" Quinn was eager to know.

"Quinn, don't question," Huck yelled at her.

"No, it's alright. I told her I would tell the two of you," Olivia started. She sat in a chair by the table before she explained. "We're going to California. I know that doesn't seem like a place that we would be going but we are. We're going to move to Sacramento and keep very low profiles. I'm changing my last name so it won't seem too obvious. There's things going on that is out of my control that we need to avoid. I… I need time away from D.C. and that time will be forever, or at least a few years. I might move back but it won't be for at least four years and I'm not even sure that will happen."

"What is out of your control?" Quinn questioned as she watched Huck seemingly ignore what Olivia was saying. "You're Olivia Pope; everything is in your control. What is so bad that you can't do it?"

"Quinn, not everything is in my power. It may seem like it is, but it isn't."

Quinn was starting to get irritated with the round a bout answers. "You have made me watch you torment a girl who was only walking her dog in the park; I've seen you bring powerful men to their knees by using their wives against them; you've made elections; you've screamed at the President of the United States; there is absolutely nothing in this world that you have no control over. So why the hell are we going to California when your life is in D.C.?"

"Don't you get it?" Huck asked her yelling, "We have to go. It's not that hard to comprehend. We're going to California to live, now live with it. You didn't have to come."

"But she made it the choice. Either be a gladiator or don't. There was no other option."

Olivia sat in the chair watching them argue for several minutes before she cut in. "That's enough! Quinn, I have to get out of D.C. There is no other option. You did not have to come with if you didn't want to. This wasn't a gladiator question. This was your choice only. If you want to go back, then go. But I'm not taking you and you cannot breathe a word about this to anyone."

"I just want to know why we're going to California. I had a life there before, I didn't expect to ever have another there. Tell me what is going on."

"You're an idiot," Huck told Quinn, "you're oblivious to what has been going on."

"What are you talking about?"

"Liv's pregnant."

Quinn whipped her head back to look at Olivia, getting dizzy from the single action. "Are you?" She watched Olivia nod her response without a smile. "It's Jake's?" Olivia shook her head no. "Then it's his?"

"Yes."

"So you're keeping this from him? You're not going to tell him or even say goodbye?"

"There's no point."

"There is too a point. He loves you. The damn President loves you above anything in the world. I've seen the way you two look at each other. It's almost sickening."

"He does not love me. Maybe he used to but he doesn't now. So, me telling him will do absolutely nothing to anything. I love him, with everything in me but I cannot be the whore to him any longer. He had Jake watch me for months because he couldn't bear to look at me. He dragged me into a damn closet so he could satisfy himself. He lets his wife degrade me at every given chance and never says a word. And even if it's because he feels guilty for cheating on her, he still could tell me in private. But when he tells me that he's talking to his wife when I'm trying to get him prepared for an interview, the interview that he scheduled, that he wanted, and I'm trying to get his children ready to not embarrass him in front of the world, I can't take it. I know he is an extremely busy man with the most powerful job in the world, but he can't even take one second for me, I'm done. And yes I know that sounds selfish."

Quinn sat down next to her attempting to think of what to say. "How far along are you?"

"Almost four months. I stayed as long as I could before it became obvious that I am pregnant. I've set him up with what he needs for his next term. He will win this next term and live with his wife and children. Let him be happy with what he has, it's what he wants. This baby is the only thing that is going to matter to me from now on. I want to make sure that the way he treated me will never happen to this baby. I want this baby to grow up having a normal life and not be labeled as the bastard child of the President with his mistress. So I'm moving to California. Now, are you coming or not?"

Quinn thought about it for half a second. "Over a cliff."


	7. I Saw Her

Teddy's birthday was just a couple days away and Fitz had one last item to pick up. He had his details take him to the Toys R Us a few miles away. Fitz went into the store taking his time looking around. As he stepped into the main aisle, he saw a woman looking at the dolls but couldn't see her face. From his point of view, there was every chance that the woman only thirty feet in front of him could be Olivia Pope. Carefully, he watched her for several minutes, praying that it was indeed her.

From the side that Fitz could see of her, he noticed that she had the same skin tone as Liv, her hair was identical, the way she stood, her posture, everything he could see screamed Olivia Pope at him. He waited one more minute before he would go over to talk to her; but before the minute was up, she turned towards him. All over his body, he filled himself with disappointment. This woman, whoever she was, was definitely not Olivia. He casually smiled when she saw him and continued on his way.

"I saw another one, Cyrus," Fitz told him at dinner when Ella and Teddy where done eating. "She looked just like her until I actually saw her face. Then it was like the torture of her leaving all over again."

"Fitz, I've told you before: you aren't going to find her. Olivia doesn't want to be found, and she won't be. It'll take you a hundred years just to find her grave if that's the way she wanted it. I'm sorry but you'll have to soon accept the fact that you will never see Olivia again."

"But what if she's in trouble? What if she's been trying to reach us somehow and we never knew? How do you know someone didn't just take her?"

"Because she told Abby she was leaving. She wouldn't have told her that if she was going to be kidnapped and knew about it."

Fitz sighed as he put down his fork. "The two of you should have told me the moment you found out. We would have had a better chance at finding her if you would have told me before. She and I could have our children in Vermont by now."

"But you don't," Cyrus pushed. "You're living in the past of a dream that you wanted. You don't even know if she wanted it too. Maybe that's why she left, because she didn't want the same things as you did."

"She left because we were arguing. Because I was talking to Mellie instead of her. I should have been yelling at Mellie later, when she had left. But I had to get to the bottom of it. Whatever it was Mellie was giving up for me. I shouldn't have yelled at Olivia. I didn't mean to. That's why she left."

Cyrus wasn't exactly sure what all had occurred before Olivia left other than what he spoke to her about outside the White House gates. He couldn't tell her that she wasn't the help, because that's exactly what both of them were. What they did to make sure Fitz was the best President would never be put into history books or talked about for decades to come. They were merely the people who served at the pleasure of the President.

"Fitz, I can't tell you her reasons for leaving because I don't know them. I do know that Olivia Pope had some reason for leaving you, for leaving D.C. Whatever her reason was, it had to be a damn good one for her to just walk away without a word to either of us. You know as well as I do that she would have done anything to protect your presidency. It's possible that she thought she was a distraction to you. She might think that she was the problem and she was handling it. I don't know, I can't read her mind. I do know that she didn't want to be the help to you. And from what I was seeing before her disappearance, that's what she was. If I knew where she was, I'd bring her back. I'd make her explain why she left. Because she didn't just leave you. She left me and Ella as well. The one female that Ella could look up to, left her with us to raise. So I'm as pissed off as you are that she did leave without a word."

"I just miss her so much, Cy. The other night, I wanted to do it so bad. The only thing that kept me from doing it was Teddy. I was sitting on the bed with the bottle of sleeping pills in my hand and he came in to say goodnight. He's the only thing keeping me alive today. I can't leave him with Mellie when she barely wants him. I'm living because my son came in to say goodnight. How pathetic is that?"

Cyrus put his hand on Fitz's shoulder, grabbing his attention to face him. "It's not pathetic. The one woman that you love more than anything other than your kids left. No one knows where she is because of her damn super spies with her. Your kid saved your life when no one else could. We've been here before when you wanted to kill yourself. She is somewhere out there okay? And at some point, we're going to find her. I know you haven't given up hope on her. Don't start now. Olivia Pope is somewhere in the world not knowing that we're looking everywhere for her. She's going to want to kill herself when she sees the damage she's done to you. And when we do find her, you can show her all the damage and make her feel just as guilty as you do for pushing her away. In the meantime, you need to stay strong for Teddy. He can't lose both his parents."

"You're right. Do me a favor? Take the sleeping pills with you."

"Good."


	8. Two Men Watching

"Are you sure this 'emergency' can't wait? Quinn, you always pick Kyra up from school. She's going to think something is wrong if I show up," Olivia asked her over the phone.

"You know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency. There's no way that I can ditch this meeting. Could you please just pick her up? I'll be done at 5 then I'll come over and study with her. Olivia, please?" Quinn begged her.

"Fine, but you better be here at 5. I'll pick her up from school and bring her home. Just finish your lousy meeting and come over."

"Thank you."

Olivia hung up her phone and looked at the clock. She had ten minutes to get over to the school before the last bell rang for dismissal. She grabbed her purse and put on her shoes going to the car.

The drive only took a few minutes since Olivia was running late to her standards. She always insisted that someone arrive half an hour early to pick Kyra up from anything because you never knew who was watching. Olivia never wanted to experience what would happen if someone was late and Kyra was nowhere to be found. The only time Olivia was late picking her up was when Kyra was three. Quinn messaged she was stuck in traffic and couldn't get to Kyra on time. So Olivia went to get her but she couldn't find her. It took about twenty minutes before Olivia found her on the playground. But in the twenty minutes that she didn't know where her daughter was, Olivia was panicking. A million thoughts ran through her head. What if Fitz found her and took her? What if Mellie found her? What if one of her or Fitz's enemies found Kyra? Olivia worried herself so much over the safety of her daughter.

Tom stepped out of the car and stood against the back passenger side waiting for the bell to ring and Teddy to come out. Fitz was seated in the back looking out the window watching for the front doors of the school to rush open and a hundred children to run out. At 3:45 the bell rang for the end of the day and children started running out the door to their parents' cars or the bus. Fitz rolled the window down waiting for his son to come out. When Teddy appeared, Tom went over and took his backpack before opening the door.

"Mommy? Where's Aunt Quinn?" Kyra asked when she saw Olivia at her locker.

"She had an important meeting to be at so I came instead. Aunt Quinn will be at the house in a bit to help you study," she replied.

"She didn't run off?"

"Ky baby, you are too important to her for her to just run off without saying a word."

Olivia held Kyra's hand at her side as they walked out of the building where she parked in the front.

"I guess so. Huck said that he'd teach me a new computer trick tonight as long as I got an A on my Science project. Which I did, of course."

"Good job baby girl!"

Teddy got in the back next to his dad, excited to tell him about his day. "Dad, that new girl is really smart! She did this volcano eruption for the science project and it made the hugest mess ever! Ms. Heath wasn't happy about it since it got in her hair but she gave her an A!"

"She sounds pretty smart. She probably had some help with it though," Fitz told his son. He looked out the window as Tom closed the door before walking around to the driver's side.

Olivia walked down the steps with Kyra in tow just in time for Fitz to see her.

"Teddy stay here." Fitz opened the door and got out carefully watching to make sure that the person he was staring at was indeed Olivia and not another woman like he thought at the Toys R Us. Tom watched Fitz for a moment before looking at whatever Fitz was seeing. "Tom, you're seeing her too?"

"Sir, it's possible. That could be her," Tom replied still looking over at Olivia.

Kyra held her mother's hand tighter, squeezing it. "Mommy, there's two men staring at us."

Olivia looked quickly to where Kyra was pointing at. When she turned her head, she saw Fitz and Tom staring at her, more her than Kyra. Liv took a tighter hold on Kyra's hand and started walking faster towards her car, but wasn't quick enough.

As soon as Fitz saw her face and the realization that the woman he'd been staring at for several minutes was actually his Livie, he closed the car door and started running towards her.

"Liv," he yelled her name but she kept going. "Olivia!" Twenty more feet and she would have been at her car. "Olivia. My God, it is you."

Olivia froze when he came closer to her. There was no way to escape it now. Fitz was getting even closer to her as she kept trying to walk to the car with Kyra pulling her towards it.

"Stop walking, Olivia!"

"Mommy, who's that?"

"Get in the car Kyra."

"Olivia. Don't. Don't walk away from me now," Fitz was pleading with her to stop moving. To just give him one minute.

"Mama," Kyra pulled her hand.

"Kyra, go get in the car," she told her quietly.

"But mommy, who's that man? Why does he want to talk to you?"

"Please get in the car Kyra." Olivia was trying to avoid Fitz's eyes, knowing if she looked in them, she'd melt and give him whatever he wanted. "The door is unlocked, get in and put your seatbelt on."

"Olivia, it's been years. Let's talk about this. Livie, please?"

"Livie? Mommy why did he call you that?"

"Kyra, I'll ask you once more, please get in the car now."

Fitz hadn't acknowledged the little girl yet. He was captured by Olivia's face and he couldn't let go.

"But mommy…"

"Kyra Lucille Grant Baker! Get it the car now!" Olivia yelled at her daughter.

Fitz finally looked down at the girl standing against Olivia's leg. She was the most adorable little girl that he had seen. Her skin was the perfect caramel color between black and white. Her hair was straight with a little curl at the end. At first glance, Fitz thought he was looking at Olivia as a child but her eyes and lips were nowhere close to being Liv's.

Kyra ran as fast as she could to the car, putting her seat belt on and locking the door. Once Olivia heard the door close to her car, she had to make a decision. Fitz was far enough away that she could make it to the car and lock the doors before you caught her. Or she could stand there and have a conversation with him. She looked at his body avoiding his eyes at all cost. He looked the same as he did the day she left. His hair was a little greyer but he wore it beautifully. But then again, anything Fitzgerald Thomas Grant the Third wore was beautiful.

Olivia gave one more second before she made a decision. She ran to her car getting in the driver's seat and locking her doors. Fitz was only a few feet behind her before she took off. She handed Kyra her cell phone from her purse driving faster down the street.

"Call Huck, tell him that he's here."

Fitz ran back to the car, getting in and closing the door.

"Follow her."


	9. How Could You Leave

Kyra took her mom's phone and went into her contacts finding Huck's number and calling him.

"Olivia, what's up?" Huck asked when he answered the phone.

"It's Ky, Huck. Mom says to tell you he's here," Kyra informed him.

"Put the phone on speaker Kyra." Kyra did as she was told and held the phone towards her mom. "Did he see you Olivia?"

"He stood ten feet in front of me. He knows and I had Kyra. What should I do?" Olivia asked him confused as she drove down the highway.

Huck thought for a moment before responding. "You could face the truth that he's here and know that he's found you, he won't give up. Or you can run again. But this time you have to think about Kyra more. Whichever you want to do, you better choose fast. You won't have much time."

Olivia looked in her rear view mirror and noticed that Tom was following her. He was keeping up the speed with her and stayed right behind her. "I'll call you back, Huck."

Kyra hung up the phone and held on to it. She was a bit scared as her mother was driving too fast down the highway. She's never seen her mom like this. She wasn't sure it Olivia was scared of them men who were staring at them or if she should be scared of her mom. Kyra held tight to her seatbelt tightening the belt around her. As she did, Olivia watched her daughter's face tear up. Liv knew she had to stop to comfort her daughter before it was a full cry. If Kyra was crying, she'd do anything to make her stop.

"Ky, we're almost home, baby. Do you want to get some ice cream after dinner tonight? I'm sure Huck and Aunt Quinn will come with," Olivia told her watching the tears fall. Kyra nodded but kept crying. "There's no reason to cry Kyra. Everything's going to be fine, I promise."

Olivia drove up the driveway to her house and went around to the other side of the car where Kyra was. Only a minute after she stepped out of the car, Tom pulled in behind her. Without wasting a minute, Fitz got out telling Teddy to stay in the car with Tom.

"Are you completely insane? You could have caused an accident! You could have gotten yourself killed! Fuck Olivia! I know you don't want to talk to me but get the hell over it, you're going to have a nice long discussion with me," Fitz screamed coming towards her. He grabbed her arm and started to pull her towards the house but she was able to release his grip on her.

Olivia went back to her car and opened the door picking up Kyra and carrying her. "I don't have time for you know, Fitzgerald."

"You live here Kyra?"

All of them turned around when they heard another voice. Teddy had just caught up to the three of them and noticed the girl in Olivia's arms was the very one he'd been telling his dad about before.

Kyra let go of her mom a little but still stayed in her arms. "Teddy? What are you doing here?"

"Teddy, you know her?" Fitz asked him as Kyra made her way to the ground.

Fitz watched him nod as Teddy came closer to Kyra. "Yeah, she's the super smart girl in my class. She made the volcano," he said then looking at Kyra. "Ms. Heath did not like getting that in her hair. But it was funny."

Olivia knew that the two children being together was not a good idea right now. With Kyra standing right next to Teddy, anyone could see that they were related. They had the exact same smile and their eyes matched perfectly. The difference in their heights was about a foot and a half but still they looked alike. Liv started to worry how she was going to get through this altercation happening now.

"Glad you liked it Teddy. Ms. Heath knows how to get it out though. She was pretty mad."

"She sure was. For someone who's only five you did an awesome job on it. Who helped you?"

Teddy got Fitz's attention saying she was only five. He bent down to her level and looked at her. "What's your name?"

"Mommy says not to talk to strangers," Kyra said. She looked at her mom who nodded in response that she was right.

"I'm Fitz. I'm Teddy's dad. Am I a stranger now?"

"Only a little. I'm Kyra."

"That's a cute name. How old are you?"

"Teddy just said that I'm five. You should listen more carefully."

"You're five and in the fourth grade?"

"Yes. I've been in school since I was two. Mommy says I'm too smart."

"You're five." Fitz stood up and looked at her. "You're five?" He turned and looked at Olivia a few feet from him. "She's five!" he yelled.

Kyra looked up at him cautiously. "I'll be six in five months."

Fitz looked at Olivia seeing the panic in her eyes. He knew she thought this day would never come. And if it did, she'd be long gone before it happened. Without saying a word, she motioned to the kids and looked back at him. He nodded his head and waved Tom over to them.

"Would you mind taking Teddy and Kyra out for ice cream and maybe to the playground for a bit? I'll call you later."

"Not a problem, sir." Teddy followed behind Kyra to the car and got in next to her.

As soon as the kids were inside of the car and the door was closed, Fitz turned his attention back to Olivia. "Inside, now!"

Fitz nearly stomped his way up the front porch to the door waiting for her to unlock it. As slowly as she could, she walked up the drive from behind her car. After a couple minutes of her taking her own precious time, Fitz decided to get her. He went down the steps to her and took her keys before bending down and tossing her over his shoulder.

"I can walk you know," she told him, hitting his back.

"Yeah I can see that. You take your own damn time too."

Fitz opened the door and went in, putting her on the steps to the upstairs in the house before closing the door and locking it. He threw her keys to the ground and started walking around her house.

"Can I help you find something?" she screamed from the front room.

"Where the hell do you keep Scotch?"

"I don't have any and even if I did, you still wouldn't be getting any."

"You always used to have Scotch for when I came over."

"I always used to be treated nicely," she muttered under her breath.

Fitz came back to the front room where she sat on the stairs. He took a long deep breath before saying anything. "I've been looking for you. I hadn't given up hope. But you did apparently. So much for growing old together." He took a step towards her putting a hand on either railing, blocking her in. "How could you just leave like that? Why couldn't you let me explain? Why couldn't you have just told me you've had enough and make me choose you? You never had to leave the way you did. I didn't even know you left. A damn journalist asked me if I thought you personally had gone off to Angola to resolve the issue. He said no one had heard from you or seen you in ten days. TEN DAYS! And everyone kept saying that you were fine, you were working. For ten days I didn't know you had left."

"Guess I wasn't that important."


	10. She's You

"Don't you dare give me that shit," Fitz yelled at her. "You were and always have been the most important thing in my life aside from my children. I thought it was best to give you some space. I thought if I gave you space you wouldn't run, but that's what you did. You ran!"

Olivia stood up on the stairs, getting eye level to him and in his face. "I did not run. I walked away. You want to treat me like shit, fine; you go right ahead and treat me like shit. That's what you damn good at. You want to speak to your wife, than do it. But don't you ever expect me to just stand there while you talk to her like I'm a damn servant. I worked my ass off for you because it was my job, because that's what I was supposed to do. So don't you ever try to hold that against me."

"I know what your job is. I knew it from the moment you started. When you came back, it was to help me get reelected."

"Exactly, it wasn't to be treated like the damn help!" Olivia kept her eyes locked with Fitz's. She could feel them soften from the anger as he took in how she would have felt after their last discussion.

"Livie, I…"

"You what? Never expected me to actually do something about it? You thought you could just treat me like shit, like a whore, and for me to accept it. That was never going happen. I thought you loved me, like you kept saying, but apparently that was just an idea my imagination blew through."

"I do love you. More than anything. Don't you get it? I've been moving the whole world to find you."

"Well, you did. So if you came back here to make me feel like Sally again, you can take your happy ass out of my life right now."

Fitz took one step higher towards her. "Don't you ever say that to me again. Don't even think it! We are not Sally and Thomas. We never were. You could have said one word and I would have dropped everything to be with you for real. So we wouldn't have to be in the dark anymore. I wanted you to be by my side out in front of the world. I never wanted you to be in the shadows waiting. But you never let me! You didn't want to be with me. It's why you always run away. You're afraid of the commitment."

"I am not! I gladly would have taken the step forward to be with you. But you are the one who needed Mellie. To stay President, you needed her."

"I would gladly have given up being the President. If it meant being with you and moving to Vermont to live the life that we wanted, I would have done anything."

Olivia sat down on the steps, putting her head in her hands. "We never would have made it to Vermont. Fitz, we're too different and all the love in the world couldn't change that. There's just no way. Eventually you would have realized that all I am is the whore mistress that could satisfy you when your wife wouldn't. You would have eventually seen that you had nothing if you were with me. You would have thrown me out and…"

"What's the point of you degrading yourself like this? You know none of that is true so why bother saying it? To push me away? But I'm not going away. So there's no point in even trying to push. I've found you and now you're stuck with me. And before you even say that you'll call the cops to remove me, you better remind yourself of who I am and all I have to do is take a picture with a cop and they're on their way without having anything done. So you trying to kick me out of here isn't going to happen. On to the next, why did you really leave?"

Fitz sat down beside her waiting for her answer. The room was so quiet both of them had finally realized that they were together again and breathing seemed so much easier. At the same time they took a breath and again let it out.

"I got tired. I couldn't be the help anymore."

"You weren't the help to begin with and that seems degrading again."

"That's what all of us were Fitz. Cyrus, Lauren, Tom, me: we all are help. You needed us to keep your job going. But you needed me to satisfy yourself. And yes me to but you needed something to let your mind drift."

Fitz was getting a little pissed off with the way she was talking. "So what? You think you were only a fuck?"

"Can you tell me I was more?"

"I built you a damn house Olivia! How else do you want me to show you? How am I supposed to prove anything to you when you don't give me a chance? You run all the time." Both of them were quiet for several minutes. The silence wasn't too uncomfortable but there was still a hint of anger between them. "I know the way I treated you before you left wasn't right. I regret it every day. I should have run after you the second you ran when Mellie and I were talking. I should have trusted you about Andrew, about Mellie's secret, about everything. I don't know why I didn't listen before. I'm sorry about that."

Olivia moved closer to him, putting her head on his shoulder. "I know."

About ten minutes went by before either of them said anything. They just enjoyed the silence and the company of the other before Fitz spoke.

"Kyra?" Fitz asked not finishing.

"Is yours," she stated firmly. "I was four months pregnant when I left. It's kind of why I left."

Fitz nodded and stayed quiet for a moment. "So you knew you were pregnant with my child and took off anyway?"

"No. I knew I was pregnant and I took off."

"You didn't know she was mine?"

"There was every possibility that she was Jake's and not yours. I didn't know who her father was. And when she was born, it didn't really matter because neither of you were there to worry about it."

"How do you know she isn't Jake's daughter?"

Olivia pulled out her cell phone and handed it to Fitz showing him the picture of Kyra. "Look at that and tell me she's Jake's daughter."

"She looks exactly like you; you never know."

"Fitz, look at her eyes, her smile. She's you! You can honestly look at that picture and say she isn't your daughter? Because if you can, you need more than your eyes examined. She looks just like you."

He stared at the picture of Kyra on her phone looking past all the parts that were Olivia. "She has the Grant smile. She's going to be a dangerous teenager."

"I'd like to focus on the fact that she's five and in the fourth grade before I think about her being a teenager."

"Where did you get Kyra from?"

"Cyrus. It's the female name of Cyrus. She's named after him."

"What's her entire name? I heard you yell it but I wasn't listening."

"Kyra Lucille Grant Baker. Her last name can be dropped at any time because it's not even real."

"Then why use it?"

"It was so you couldn't find me. Pope would have been too obvious. I used Baker when I left. The best teacher I ever had was Mr. Baker. So it was easy to use that name."

Fitz handed her back the phone and she set it down as he put his arm around her pulling her to him. "Livie, tell me where to go from here. What do we do?"

"Answer me this. How are you not screaming your head off at me right now?"

"For six years I've been looking for you. I finally found you in the same city I've been living in. I don't have the energy or strength to yell at you. I missed you too much. And I'm afraid if I do, you might run again. So I'm staying even with you. I want to see my daughter and get to know her. I want to know what she's like and get to the point where she calls me dad. Honestly, I don't think that's asking too much."

Olivia shook her head no. "I think she'd like that. To get to know you and Teddy then Karen and Jerry. She'd love to know them. But please, don't take out what I did to you on her. She's very difficult to understand if you haven't known her for her whole life. She's not a normal child."

"She's Olivia Pope's daughter, what part of her life could ever be normal?"

Olivia stood up and went down the steps to the hallway before turning back towards Fitz. "She has some studying to do when Quinn gets here. And Huck was going to show her a new computer trick as a reward. But I think she'd like to spend time with you instead. So if you want, you can stay here when they return and study with her with Teddy."

"How about I play a game with her? She doesn't need to study all the time."

"Kyra doesn't play games. And she doesn't have toys. She doesn't do anything but study or play an instrument right now. Ask her to play you a song and the piano. Kyra will tell you toys are for babies."

Fitz nodded and followed after Liv to the kitchen. "Where is this leaving us, Livie?"


	11. There's Something You Should Know

"Where is this leaving us, Livie?" Fitz questioned her again. "I'm done waiting to find you. I've found you and I can't let you go again. Especially if Kyra is mine."

Olivia was silent for several minutes, collecting her thoughts as she stood against the counter island. When she looked up she stared at Fitz standing in the doorway to the hall in his jeans and button up shirt. Nearly six years and she still loved the look of him in casual clothes. It took another minute before she said anything.

"Kyra is yours. There's no question about it. She looks just like you. Don't question me about who her father is because each time it's going to be you. You've seen her picture and in person. How can you even think that she isn't yours?"

"You were with Jake around the same time. Kyra might be his."

"SHE IS NOT HIS! Jake and I slept together once during that time. I thought it was possible that she was his daughter but she's not. Jake… he got drunk while we were at the gala with you. I drove him home and we ended up in bed. He got angry when I told him no. Jake was stronger than I was. I couldn't fight him for long," Olivia explained. Fitz was getting upset with himself for ever putting Jake and Olivia in the same room. He trusted Jake when he shouldn't have. "He got my clothes off and then his while he held me down. I couldn't stop him. I started to panic and remembered he kept a gun in the night stand drawer. I pulled the gun out and hit him in the head with it. He was barely in me when he passed out. There's no possible way that Jake is Kyra's father. And just to be sure about it, I had her DNA tested to yours. I had an envelope you licked and gave me to compare it to. So… whether you like it or not, Kyra is your daughter. I'd prefer you not say anything unless you are committed to staying her father. If you want to leave, then leave and don't say anything about it."

Fitz moved towards her to the island and moved her to face him. He pushed the hair behind her ear making her look at him. "I'm not going anywhere. You know that my kids come before anything else in this world. Just like Teddy, Karen, and Jerry, Kyra is one of my children and she will always come first. She's part of us. You and me. I couldn't turn away from her even if I wanted to. She seems like a lucky girl. Having you as her mom only makes her more special. Olivia Pope's daughter is a force to be messed with."

"Why aren't you angry? I'd be pissed off to the maximum if someone hid my child."

"I am. But I don't fault you. I see why you hid and didn't want to see me. But I want to make that right. The way I treated you before you left was awful. I want to make up for that. And for the six years you've been gone. Livie, I need to be with you. I can breathe now. You are my life line and I finally got you back. Stay with me and we'll work out whatever we need to."

"I… Quinn will be here any minute. You should call Tom and have him bring the kids back. I don't like her being out with people she doesn't know."

"Livie, you're dodging again. I can't be in limbo."

"Kyra needs to come first, Fitz. She is my only priority in life right now."

"She's our daughter Olivia. Kyra needs us. She needs both her parents. Are you going to take away her father again?"

Olivia looks at him stunned like he stabbed a knife in her heart. "Of course not! But she doesn't know you're her father. She's been doing just fine for five years with only me and Quinn and Huck. We're the only people she really knows and the only ones she trusts."

"She's five, Liv. She'd trust the man in the ice cream truck."

"I thought you remembered she is my daughter? Kyra is five and in the fourth grade! She trusts no one. That's exactly what I've taught her. Trust no one because everyone lies." Olivia saw the look on his face, knowing he thought she meant he lied. "You may have lied but for good cause. I'm not angry about that."

"Livie, I need an answer! A straight answer. Are you with me or aren't you?"

"We've wanted Vermont. We wanted our kids and to grow old. You've divorced Mellie we can finally do it. We have our kids, our house and we can grow old together. We can have our happy ending."

Fitz smiled at the thought of the family he always wanted with Olivia growing up in Vermont. He could picture them at family dinners and having snowball fights then going inside to have hot chocolate by the fireplace. His favorite though would be waking up to Olivia and staring out the sky lights in their bedroom. But as he remembered more about the house, he reminded himself about what he'd done.

"There's just one little problem," Fitz said as he moved to the other side of the island away from her. He was a little afraid of what she might do to him if she was completely angry.

"And that would be? You did divorce Mellie right? It was all over the news."

"Yes, of course I did. It's just…"

"Just what?" Olivia leaned against the sink watching him with her arms crossed.

"I did it a while ago. After you left, I started looking for you immediately when I found out. I've had people searching everywhere for you. There weren't any signs of you anywhere. About two years after you left, I started to give up hope of ever finding you."

"I know you tried to kill yourself, Fitz. I know that you drank with a bottle of pills and the gun."

"How do you know? Cyrus made sure that no one ever would know. We used every precaution there was so no one knew about that."

"You were at the gala and went home earlier than most. But since it was in D.C. you went to the hotel. Tom found you on the floor passed out, barely breathing. He called Cyrus to tell him the situation. I know you were sedated for three days on a psychiatric hold. They wanted to make sure you were mentally okay."

"How do you know all of this? You weren't there. And Cyrus made sure that everyone was tight lipped about it."

"I was already at the hospital when you came in. I was there. No one saw me, which was what I wanted. You kept yelling my name like you were hallucinating. So I stayed longer. It was my fault you tried to kill yourself. If I never left you would have been fine. Nothing like that ever would have happened."

"It's not your fault. I knew why you left. I should have treated you better that night. I am sorry for that. What were you doing at the hospital?"

"One of my clients from the firm had called and said they needed help. I declined at first but he swore if I didn't come he'd make sure that everyone knew about Kyra. So, yeah, I knew about your suicide attempt."

Fitz shook his head looking at the floor. "After that I still gave up hope. There was no way I would ever find you. Cyrus had told me that you wouldn't even tell Abby where you were going and that you took Quinn and Huck with you so the chances of me finding you ever were miniscule at best. And that in mind. The thought of living in Vermont, in our house, alone without you was a nightmare. One that I had daily. So I decided to stay in California with Teddy and Karen and Jerry," he explained. Fitz put his hands on the back of his head feeling a little guilty. "I sold the house." He looked up and stared at Olivia not able to read her. Her stance of standing against the sink with her arms crossed gave him no clue what she was thinking. He let the silence go on for several minutes. "Please say something."

"Oh."

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"What would you like me to say? There's nothing we can do about it now. You sold the house. It was yours to sell. If you didn't want to live there, a nice family could. It was a beautiful house."

"Liv, I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want that house to just sit there empty while it could be getting good use to someone else. I built that house for you and me but without you, there's no way I could keep it. It's bad enough that I had constant reminders of you everywhere else. I didn't want the one thing that we wanted to be another reminder."

"Fitz, it's okay. I'm not mad about it. It's just a house; we can always build a new one somewhere else. That's not a big deal. It's just a house."

He was a bit surprised at how well she was taking this. Yes, it was only a house, but it was the house they were going to live in and raise their family together. "I think you're missing something Liv, I SOLD THE HOUSE!"

"I know, and you seem more upset about it than anything that I've ever done."

"MOMMY! We're back!" Kyra screamed from the front door.

Olivia caught her daughter in her arms and pulled her for a hug. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes, Teddy is cool. But he wanted me to play a game, tag? He kept coming up to me and saying 'tag you're it', is that a real game?"

"It is, a lot of kids play it. I have someone you should meet, Ky." Olivia turned her towards Fitz and noticed the confusion.

"That's Fitz, Mommy. I met him earlier."

"Kyra," Fitz said taking a step towards her and leaning to her level. "Remember I told you I'm Teddy's dad?" Kyra nodded and waited for him to continue. "Well, I'm also your dad. Teddy's your brother."

Kyra turned back to her mom wondering if it was all true. When Olivia nodded, Kyra ran to Fitz's arms and hugged him. "You've been gone for a long time."

Fitz picked her up and set her on his lap in the chair. "I'm sorry about that. But I'm back now and I'm not going anywhere. So you're stuck with me."

"Okay Daddy!"

Fitz hugged her and kissed her cheek before setting her down to go find Teddy.

"Well, she likes you already, 'Daddy'. I think you'll be good with her then. If it's alright with you, I think our situation here leaves us with getting married. Don't you think?"

"I think it does. We have a daughter and Teddy and any other children we have to raise and two parents would be great for them. So a wedding we shall have."

Fitz stood up ready to go find Teddy and Kyra.

"Fitz?" Olivia stopped him before he left the room. "There's also something you should know."

"And what's that?"

"You sold our house in Vermont to me."


	12. The End

"You sold our house in Vermont to me."

"I think I misunderstood you. I sold the house to a couple with three kids. They said they loved the…"

"Fireplace, the sky lights by an amazing local artist, the granite countertops. I know what they said because I said it."

Fitz stepped towards her coming face to face with Liv. "How did you do that? I gave up hope and you bought the house?"

"You gave up hope after I did. And even though we weren't together or even speaking on a friendly basis, I couldn't let you sell the house to anyone else. Vermont is what we wanted. It's what we worked so hard for. Vermont was always our endgame. And it always will be. That house is ours. I could let anyone else live the dream that was ours. When I saw it was on the market, I called the agent and bought it. I paid twice as much as you wanted for it on the condition that you never know it was me. The agent fought with me about it until she realized who I was. You sold the house to me. It was always our house."

"Olivia Carolyn Pope, you an unbelievable."

"But…"

"But I love you all the more for it."

"Good, because I love you too."


End file.
